September 12, 2001
by Mynuet
Summary: The RGB get called to Ground Zero. I wrote it last year for the RGBS list, and am putting it here.


September 12th  
  
  
Peter paced furiously, cursing at the cordless phone  
in his hand. "Why am on on frickin' hold AGAIN?!?"  
  
Egon looked up from where the television which had  
been tuned to various news channels for over 24 hours.  
"Because they are very, very busy."  
  
"All I want to do is offer some help, you know? Let  
them know we're willing to do whatever we can." Peter  
kicked at an ottoman that interfered with his pacing.  
  
"Peter, you've already written a check to the Red  
Cross and all of us who could, gave blood." Ray bit  
his tongue, wishing he hadn't brought up what had  
already been a touchy issue.  
  
Peter glared. "I still you should've just let me lie.  
It's not like that rule about not having sex since  
1975 is still necessary or applicable."  
  
"Look, we all want to help, Peter. That's why we took  
blankets and food down there and signed up on the  
lists they were passing around. They know where we  
are if they want us." Winston heroically attempted  
not only to change the subject but to cheer Peter up.   
All it accomplished was a fresh spate of curses.  
  
"Peter, hang up the phone and put it down now."   
Egon's voice held the chill of ten thousand years on a  
glacier. Peter kicked the ottoman again and hung up,  
dropping the phone on the abused piece of furniture  
before tossing himself onto the couch next to Egon.   
The blond scientist gathered him close, offering the  
comfort of his body while not taking his eyes off of  
the screen.  
  
All of them jumped into the air when the phone rang.   
Janine won the scrimmage for it. "Ghostbusters, we  
believe you... Yes. Yes, they did all sign up to  
help. They'll be there shortly. Thank you, and may I  
say, your honor, I'm very proud to have you as mayor  
and to be a New Yorker. Bless you, too."  
  
"Where does he want us?" Peter was pulling the zipper  
up to his chin while simultaneously strapping on his  
proton pack. The other three were doing the same  
while heading towards Ecto-1.  
  
"Ground Zero."  
  
--------  
  
They drove as close as they were allowed to by the  
crowds of emergency vehicles and would-be volunteers  
before walking the rest of the way to where the two  
towers had once stood. As one, they stopped, trying  
to take in this horrific destruction. "Jesus Christ."  
No one could be sure who said it, as they all felt  
the same shock, the sense of wrongness. This was not  
their New York City; this must be an alien land.  
  
A fireman who looked exhausted beyond words came up to  
them. "Ghostbusters. We need you down there. Here's  
some hard hats and goggles. If your eyes start to  
hurt, go to triage and get them washed out." With  
that he turned, returning to the scene of devastation  
and to the work of trying to find someone to rescue.  
  
The four men did as ordered and followed in the  
direction the fireman had gone, staring numbly at  
their surroundings. They soon saw why they had been  
called in. A bright, formless spirit was flying from  
worker to worker, hovering in front of their faces for  
endless seconds before moving on to the next. Several  
of the workers had streams of tears emerging from  
under the protective goggles.  
  
"Don't hurt it." Another random fireman, this one  
with some sort of rank insignia, looked up from where  
he was working. "We don't know what or who it is. It  
could've been anyone, including one of our brothers.   
We don't want it hurt, we just want to know what it  
wants."  
  
Peter stepped forward, trying to attract the attention  
of the spirit. It came to him, hovered in front of  
him and then floated two feet away. His friends held  
their throwers at the ready as Peter stepped forward,  
following the ghost. It did a little loop in the air  
that looked joyous then moved another three feet away.  
As the Ghostbusters followed, it started to pick up  
speed, coming to rest at a point just out of sight of  
the main rescue effort. No matter where the guys  
moved, it didn't budge from that spot.  
  
"My turn." Before anyone could object, Winston moved  
forward to where the ghost was hovering. As he drew  
near it sank and Winston knelt down. "Guys! I hear  
something!" All four threw themselves into digging,  
shouting for other rescue workers to come as well as  
shouting to whoever it was in the rubble to hang on,  
keep talking, help was on the way.   
  
After what seemed an eternity, they opened enough  
space to see a sort of cavern in the rubble, and to  
hear that the voice was a woman. "Help me, I'm  
trapped and I don't know where my little girl is!"  
  
One by one they entered and fanned out to search in  
the dark for where the voice came from. The spirit  
hovered behind them for a moment before floating over  
to a dark corner. Winston was the first one there,  
the others close behind. The woman was trapped by a  
piece of concrete but appeared to be unhurt. All four  
put their hands under the piece of rubble and lifted,  
Ray letting go long enough to grasp the woman under  
her armpits and pull her out before the concrete  
dropped again.  
  
"My little girl, we have to find my Beth." The woman  
tried to stand up but the time she had spent trapped  
had locked her muscles and she would have fallen  
without Ray's assistance.  
  
Everyone turned when they heard Winston's indrawn  
breath. They saw that the previously formless spirit  
had taken the shape of a six year old girl. Ray  
swiped at the tears in his eyes as the woman they had  
rescued tried to reach out for the ghost of her  
daughter. She collapsed into tears, moaning that she  
didn't want to live, that they should have left her to  
die.  
  
"No, Mommy." The ghost floated closer. "Mommy, I  
know it's hard but you have to live. I'm with Daddy  
now, and we're going to stay with you and watch you."  
  
"I want to go with you, baby." The woman couldn't  
hold back the sobs that shook her from head to toe.  
  
"You have to live, mommy, because my little brother is  
going to be very important. You're going to meet a  
hero man who will love you a lot and you'll love him  
and you'll tell my little brother all about his big  
sister who takes care of him from heaven."  
  
"Daddy, get help, I need more time." The ghost looked  
at a point over Peter's shoulder and he felt a piece  
of concrete the size of a nickel hit his arm. His  
tone was nervous as he said, "Guys, we need to think  
about leaving here."  
  
"NO! I won't leave my child." The woman screamed,  
trying to break away from Ray's protective hold and  
sinking to a sitting position. "Bethany, come back,  
baby."  
  
The ghost put her hands on her mother's cheeks,  
cupping her face in a loving hold. The mother brought  
her hands up to hold the little hands there, tears  
streaming as she tried to accept the unacceptable.   
"Mommy, forever and ever, you can put your hands like  
this and you'll feel me there, giving you all the love  
you can hold. I'll be with you, always. God just  
didn't want me to suffer anymore from the cancer, so  
he took me a little early, that's all."  
  
There was a rumble overhead. "You've got to go now,  
they can't hold the walls much longer." Ray picked the  
woman up and started heading out of the cavern, the  
others following closely. Just as they would have  
reached the surface, the ghost called to them to stop.  
  
"The ones who helped my daddy hold the wall want me to  
tell you something for them." She drifted to Ray and  
hugged him around his neck with her ethereal arms.   
"Your mommy wants me to tell you that she and your  
daddy love you and always have. She says they're glad  
their fuzzy ray gun has turned out so well."  
  
Ignoring their shocked looks, she turned towards Egon,  
floating in the air in front of him. "And your daddy  
said," she folded her arms and scrunched her face up,  
"I'm very proud of your work, son. You're a real  
scientist. But you can get a more accurate reading  
with the PKE meter if you tune the power output down  
two cycles."  
  
Egon's mouth automatically said, "Yes, sir" without  
any guidance from his brain. Peter tugged him along  
as Winston pushed Ray out of the tunnel and into  
daylight. Just as Peter's boot cleared the entrance  
and they were all safe, they heard the cavern they had  
been in collapse. Bethany's spirit continued floating  
upwards, waving goodbye.  
  
The fireman who had warned them not to hurt the spirit  
came running up to them and was distracted and  
spellbound by the sight. He crossed himself and then  
asked if he could take the lady to triage while the  
Ghostbusters cleaned themselves up. They nodded and  
went on their way, trying to sort out exactly what had  
happened.  
  
----  
The end  
  
And, well, I'm sorry if this offended anyone. I wrote it last year when the grief was still raw, and it helped. Don't know if I'll leave it up long, but it's just another little memorial candle in the midst of millions. 


End file.
